Karine Aigner (USA) delves into the relationship between Cuban culture and songbirds, and explores the future of a deep-rooted tradition.
Owners and their birds have a close relationship. In Havana, a juvenile indigo bunting takes seeds from its handler's tongue. The species overwinters in Cuba and is a particularly popular caged bird.
But there can be a dark side to the trade, with some birds taken from the wild and stored and trafficked in inhospitable conditions with missing feathers, open sores, broken legs and infestations of mites.
USA
Karine is an award-winning photojournalist who captures visual stories that explore the relationships between humans and the animal world. Her work has been featured in National Geographic Magazine, Audubon, The New York Times, Nature Conservancy Magazine, The Guardian, WWF and BBC Wildlife. In 2022, Karine became the fifth woman in 58 years to ever win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Grand Title.
Help us harness the power of photography to advance scientific knowledge, spread awareness of important issues and nurture a global love for nature.
